DARN you, Smitty!  I was just ready to go to bed, but thought I would check the board one more time.  I read your post, and just HAD to respond!

First of all, welcome to the looney bin  ummm ... nut house err .. to the FAMILY!!!  Feel free to ask all the questions you want.  We want to help!

First of all, thanks for the intro.  Just a few questions .. Where do you live?  Not specifically, but what area of the world?  If the states, what state?

Next GLARING problem I saw in your intro is the OXYGEN MACHINE .. REPLACE it with tanks of oxygen!  The machine just bairly does the job.  There are two reasons for this:  One, is that it does not produce PURE oxygen.  From what I hear, it fluctuates between 85 to 95% pure.  Second, it does not produce the flow rate that works best (and fastest) for us.

The oxygen tanks have about 99.9% pure oxygen in them.  You can get regulators that can produce 15LPM, almost anywhere.  A little harder to find, but better and quicker to abort, are the regulators that release up to 25LPM.  Then there are those that go up to 50LPM, but are much harder to find.  Oxygen machines (that you can get for your house) can't get close to that production level!  Talk to your doctor about changing over.

Next, about the night time attacks.  This is virtually consistent with all sufferers.  The dreaded night time hits.  What happens, is that when you reach the REM stage of sleep, the beast comes knocking on your head.  These are generally more severe, and harder to abort, because by the time we wake up, the hit has been able to build to a much higher level, before we were aware of it, and then attempt to abort it.  The daytime hits, we feel sooner, and start our abort method sooner. (like oxygen)

One over the counter medication that helps a LOT of sufferers get a good night's sleep, is melatonin.  Take it about 45 minutes before you plan on going to bed.  Start with a low dose, of 3mg, and see if that works.  If not, after a few days, up it a bit.  Some take 15mg to get it to work.  Your body reacts differently than others, so you just have to try what works for you.

Hurting yourself is NOT recommended, while you are getting a hit, but many of us do that.  I, myself, tend to be a head banger.  Meaning while I am getting a bad hit, I bang my head on the floor.  I have done it hard enough, at times, to break the skin and bleed.

Try not to do this.  The calmer you are, the easier it is to abort.

Sweating is a VERY common trait of clusterheads.  There have been several clusterheads that have held me, while I am getting hit, and they have told me that my body temperature sky rockets, almost to the point that it hurts them to touch me.  So sweating is very normal.  I believe it is even listed as one of the possible symptoms of cluster headaches.

Points to remember:
- You are a clusterhead.  That makes you a VERY strong individual, even if you don't think you are!
- NEVER let the beast win!  You are stronger and more stubborn than he is!
- DON'T dwell on hits, and the pain of the hits.  DO thoroughly enjoy the time between hits, and live life to the fullest!
- Do NOT let clusters rule your life!  Continue to live and enjoy your pain free time.  Live life to its fullest!
- You CAN survive this!  Cluster headaches, by themselves, can not kill you!  It makes you stronger!

Anyhow, ask away, and good luck in fighting the beast!

Chuck